Coverage connected to British Columbia, with verified short holdings, original analysis and links to the underlying sources. A publication date isn't the same as a decision date. The dates below identify which is shown.
61 verified publications. Showing the 36 most recent.
Decision 2026-10-16 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed a worker's complaint against his employer and union because merely asserting anxiety did not provide evidence that a protected disability prevented him from complying with a workplace mask requirement. Although anxiety can qualify as a disability, the missing evidence of a functional barrier meant the complaint had no reasonable prospect of success, without creating a blanket rule about mask mandates.
Decision 2026-10-06 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal held that employment under the Human Rights Code turns on actual dependence and control, not just which contractor issues a worker's paycheque or the formal structure of a construction project. It allowed the discrimination complaint to proceed against Bonatti and the project partnership while dismissing it against Kiewit for lack of evidence of employment control, without deciding whether discrimination occurred.
Decision 2026-10-20 · Open coverageFollowing a 21 day hearing, the BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed a professor's accommodation, discriminatory harassment and retaliation complaints because Douglas College had pursued reasonable workplace adjustments and requests for information, while the professor did not consistently cooperate in identifying workable restrictions. The College's response to workplace complaints was not shown to be discriminatory, and disciplinary letters addressing the manner of communication were not retaliation merely because the professor had asserted human rights.
Decision 2025-02-24 · Open coverageThe BC Supreme Court upheld the dismissal for cause of a longtime project manager who knowingly overstated his hours by claiming paid coffee breaks after being told to stop, then took extra leave despite express refusal of permission. Applying a contextual assessment of dishonesty and proportionality, the court found that the deliberate time reporting fraud and insubordination broke the employment relationship and dismissed his wrongful dismissal action.
Decision 2025-11-25 · Open coverageThe BC Court of Appeal reinstated a dismissed company founder's claims against directors and an investor for inducing breach of contract and unlawful interference with economic relations alongside his existing wrongful dismissal and conspiracy claims. The appeal concerned the sufficiency of pleaded allegations rather than their truth, and the court upheld the dismissal of negligence claims because the pleadings disclosed no viable duty of care.
Decision 2025-08-29 · Open coverageThe BC Supreme Court held that a company constructively dismissed its controller during working notice by progressively stripping away his senior duties and moving him to an inferior office, contrary to its assurance that his role wouldn't change. The court assessed 15 months of reasonable notice, rejected the argument that continuing to work meant accepting inadequate notice, and dismissed aggravated damages and most of the employer's counterclaim.
Decision 2025-07-09 · Open coverageAfter a pandemic layoff, the BC Supreme Court held that an employee's ambiguous suggestion he might retire didn't amount to a clear resignation, and the employer's failure to recall him was wrongful dismissal. His firm intention to retire at 65 limited common law reasonable notice to 6 months, resulting in $14,500 in damages.
Decision 2026-04-09 · Open coverageThe BC Court of Appeal dismissed both sides' appeals from an arbitration that awarded a pediatrician $388,582.13 after Northern Health terminated his virtual care contract over pandemic vaccination requirements. The court held that challenges to the arbitrator's factual findings on contractual frustration and notice didn't raise appealable questions of law, and found no legal error in the arbitrator's interpretation of the health order applicable to the doctor's unusual work arrangement.
Decision 2026-05-13 · Open coverageThe BC Court of Appeal upheld a tribunal finding that Nanaimo's suspension and dismissal of its finance executive were discriminatory because racial stereotypes influenced an internal misconduct report that informed both decisions. Even a dismissal potentially justified by workplace misconduct can breach the Human Rights Code if race was also a factor, and an employer bears responsibility for how it relies on an employee's complaint.
Decision 2026-10-02 · Open coverageConsequences attached to choosing not to be vaccinated, including loss of employment, did not engage section 7 on the pleaded facts under the cited binding and persuasive case law. The BC Supreme Court granted the Province's application to strike as pleaded.
Decision 2026-09-24 · Open coverageA B.C. tribunal allowed employment discrimination allegations dating back to 2020 to proceed as a possible continuing contravention. The ruling addresses filing deadlines, not whether discrimination occurred.
Decision 2026-10-21 · Open coverageAn academy recovered $858 in a medical benefit advanced to a teacher who resigned before completing her school year contract. An earlier employment standards inquiry into wage deductions hadn't decided the employer's separate contractual repayment claim.
Decision 2026-09-16 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal refused to reopen its dismissal of a vaccine related religious discrimination complaint because disagreement with the ruling wasn't a reconsideration ground.
Decision 2026-09-15 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal ordered disclosure of investigator interview records and temporary anonymity in a harassment complaint, but preserved legal advice privilege.
Decision 2026-09-15 · Open coverageA nurse proved that a supervisor had treated her poorly, but the tribunal dismissed her discrimination complaint because the evidence did not connect the treatment, employer investigation or promotion decisions to race or disability.
Decision 2026-09-24 · Open coverageA B.C. tribunal allowed employment discrimination allegations dating back to 2020 to proceed as a possible continuing contravention. The ruling addresses filing deadlines, not whether discrimination occurred.
Decision 2026-10-01 · Open coverageThe B.C. Court of Appeal permitted 2 faculty associations to intervene jointly on limited terms but rejected a different intervention that would broaden the appeal. The ruling didn't decide the validity of the underlying resolutions.
Decision 2026-09-09 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal refused to dismiss a film makeup artist's race discrimination complaint against her union. Being excluded from film sets could constitute adverse treatment even when the correct wages were eventually paid, and the union's limited response required examination at a hearing.
Decision 2026-08-20 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal rejected an application to remove a member for alleged bias and refused to reconsider earlier rulings about disclosure, the scope of a discrimination complaint and publication of a complainant's name. Disagreement with reasons did not overcome the principle of finality.
Decision 2017-12-15 · Open coverageThe Supreme Court restored the BC Human Rights Tribunal's jurisdiction over a discrimination complaint against a construction foreman employed by another company. Workplace discrimination protection can apply where a person's conduct has a sufficient connection to the complainant's employment, even without being that person's employer or supervisor.
Published 2026-10-16 · Open coverageWorkSafeBC approved changes affecting periodic certification requirements in multiple parts of its safety regulation. The amendments are scheduled to take effect September 1, 2027.
Decision 2026-09-22 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal allowed a healthcare worker's religious discrimination complaint about vaccination requirements to proceed to a hearing. Her affidavit linked the objection to a sincerely held religious belief, and the employer had not shown that the claim lacked any reasonable prospect of success.
Decision 2026-09-22 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed an arborist's workplace disability complaint. It accepted that he experienced serious anxiety and stress related to workplace conflict, but found insufficient evidence of a mental disability protected by the Human Rights Code when the disputed treatment occurred.
Decision 2026-10-02 · Open coverageFourteen former BC public servants challenged their dismissals under a vaccination policy. The court rejected their Section 7 Charter claim, but allowed amendments addressing freedom of conscience and whether a regulation could automatically deny notice and severance rights.
Decision 2026-09-17 · Open coverageA BC employer investigated reports of racist workplace remarks, suspended a supervisor for 2 days and required training. The Human Rights Tribunal still refused to dismiss the complaint because key credibility questions and the alleged impact on the worker remained unresolved. The merits will be heard later.
Decision 2026-09-15 · Open coverageThe BC Human Rights Tribunal ordered disclosure of interview records from a disputed workplace investigation, while protecting legal advice and granting limited anonymity in an unresolved harassment complaint.
Decision 2026-09-16 · Open coverageA former health authority worker challenged the dismissal of his religious discrimination complaint. The Tribunal found that disagreement with the original reasoning wasn't a basis to reopen its decision.
Decision 2026-10-02 · Open coverageA BC worker's challenge to a workers compensation decision became a dispute over security for costs and missed procedural deadlines. The Court of Appeal declined to reopen her abandoned appeals because she hadn't shown a reviewable error.
Decision 2026-09-09 · Open coverageA film makeup artist said she was repeatedly displaced by less qualified coworkers. The BC tribunal allowed her complaint against the union to proceed even when pay discrepancies were remedied.
Decision 2026-09-09 · Open coverageA BC tribunal ordered $35,000 for injury to dignity after a fire department terminated a firefighter with PTSD before assessing his accommodation needs.
Decision 2026-08-20 · Open coverageA former public employee sought reconsideration of publication and document disclosure decisions. The tribunal rejected the requests, emphasizing the narrow grounds for reopening decisions.
Decision 2026-09-15 · Open coverageA nurse proved that a supervisor had treated her poorly, but the tribunal dismissed her discrimination complaint because the evidence did not connect the treatment, employer investigation or promotion decisions to race or disability.
Decision 2026-09-22 · Open coverageAn arborist said workplace conflict aggravated his anxiety before he was dismissed. The BC Human Rights Tribunal found he hadn't established a protected disability at the relevant time.
Decision 2026-09-22 · Open coverageA BC tribunal refused to dismiss a healthcare worker's religious discrimination complaint before a hearing. It made no finding that the employer had discriminated.
Published 2026-10-08 · Member analysisWorkSafeBC's September 17 guideline update touches three separate things: an existing duty to report serious incidents immediately, revised respirator selection guidance, and a new guideline tied to OHS Regulation amendments that take effect November 6, 2026.
Decision 2026-07-10 · Open coverageThe BC Court of Appeal dismissed an employee's accommodation appeal, holding that later medical findings didn't establish what the employer should have known when the worker requested remote work.